Christine Archer-Lockwood and Guy Donaldson At Two Pianos

Following the highly successful concert at the Globe in 2019 of Christine Archer-Lockwood and Guy Donaldson at two pianos, the two performers have prepared an equally exciting programme for their concert on Sunday September 27 at 2.30pm.

They will begin the concert with Mozart’s only piano sonata written for two pianos. The piece is particularly relevant for audiences dealing with impact of COVID-19 as its overall mood is one of celebration and joy.

At the centre of the programme are three modern pieces, which are both exciting and entertaining. American composer John Corigliano is an award-winning composer and a distinguished professor of music at the Julliard school. His piece Kaleidoscope is calculated to have the audience on the edges of their seats as musical ideas are tossed between the two instruments and the performers move between co-operation and dueling.

Palmerston North composer Graham Parsons’ Pas de Deux recalls classical ballet, with the two performers now working lyrically together, even when the mood of the piece for a time darkens. Graham wrote the work for the performers this year.

One of the favourites of the 2019 duo programme was a tango by Astor Piazzola. The tango offering in this programme – The Death of the Angel – is bound to have a similar impact. Taken from a 1957 play Tango del angel for which Piazzola wrote the music, the drama depicts an angel who appears to residents of a shabby neighbourhood in Buenos Aires to purify their souls and is ultimately killed in a knife fight. This climactic piece depicts the fight between the villain and the angel.

Any heightened pulse rates created by this music will be eased and smiles created as the two pianists embark on extracts from Camille Saint-Saens’ famous work Carnival of the Animals, originally written for two pianos and a chamber orchestra. From the beginning, Saint-Saëns regarded the work as a piece of fun. Saint-Saëns was adamant that the work would not be published in his lifetime, seeing it as detracting from his "serious" composer image. History has decided otherwise. The audience will experience a parade of lions, hens and roosters, wild asses, tortoises, an elephant, kangaroos, fossils, a swan, and a finale in which all the animals rush past at great speed.

Christine Archer-Lockwood was born and educated in Palmerston North and returned to the city in 2017. Her piano teachers were Beryl Bartlett (PNth) and Judith Clark (Wellington). She gained an Honours degree in Piano Performance at Victoria University of Wellington, post-graduate diplomas in teaching (Wellington) and music therapy (London), and a Masters in Music Therapy from Massey University, Wellington. Christine’s professional life has been as a primary school teacher; a music therapist in special education, early intervention, and private practice; a chamber musician, an accompanist, piano teacher, music director and conductor of choirs and orchestras. She is currently music director of the Renaissance Singers.

Guy Donaldson received his formative piano instruction from Maurice Collier, and then at Canterbury University with Maurice Till. In 1984 he studied in London with Paul Hamburger and Roger Vignoles. Guy was a senior lecturer in music education at Massey until 2004, when he took leave to pursue his passion for performance and music teaching. He is active in the Manawatu as a teacher, adjudicator, piano soloist, accompanist, chamber music player and music coach, and was for 30 years music director of the Renaissance Singers.

Please arrive early as restrictions on audience size may apply.

Admission is by donation, recommended from $5.